The present invention relates to a liquid cooling apparatus and, more particularly, to a treatment for leakage caused in a liquid cooling apparatus.
In a conventional cooling apparatus, as shown in FIG. 3, a coolant 3 cooled by a heat exchanger 51 of a cooling apparatus 5 is stored in a tank 52 through a pipe 4a. The coolant 3 stored in this tank 52 is supplied to a heat generating portion 62 in an electronic device 6 by a pump 54. The heat generating portion 62 is then cooled by the coolant 3.
The coolant 3 which is heated upon cooling the heat generating portion 62 is returned to the heat exchanger 51 through a pipe 4b. The coolant 3 is cooled by the heat exchanger 51 again and is supplied to the heat generating portion 62 through the pipe 4a, the tank 52, and the pump 54.
In the cooling apparatus 5, a decrease in amount of the coolant 3 stored in the tank 52 is detected by a level switch 53, and the detection result is input to a control section 50 through a signal line 111. The heat exchanger 51 and the pump 54 are controlled by the control section 50 through signal lines 113 and 112.
In the electronic device 6, power V is supplied from a power supply 61 controlled by a control section 60 to the heat generating portion 62. The heat generating portion 62 is driven by this power V. The control section 60 and the power supply 61 are connected to the control section 50 of the cooling apparatus 5 through a signal line 114.
If an abnormality occurs in the cooling apparatus 5 while the cooling apparatus 5 and the electronic device 6 are operated, the control section 50 of the cooling apparatus 5 turns off the power supply 61 of the electronic device 6 to prevent the heat generating portion 62 from being heated to a high temperature.
In such a conventional liquid cooling apparatus, in order to prevent the heat generating portion 62 from being heated to a high temperature when the amount of the coolant 3 circulating through the pipes 4a and 4b is reduced, only when a decrease in amount of the coolant in the tank is detected by the level switch 53, the power supply 61 of the electronic device 6 is turned off under the control of the control section 50. For this reason, even if the amount of coolant is gradually decreased and the power supply 61 need not be turned off, the power supply 61 may be turned off.
In addition, assume that only a small amount of the coolant 3 leaks and is stored in drain pans 55 and 63 of the cooling apparatus 5 and the electronic device 6 so as not to leak outside, and hence an operation can be continued. Even in such a case, the power supply 61 of the electronic device 6 is immediately turned off under the control of the control section 50. Therefore, the above-described control poses a problem in a computer system and the like which are greatly influenced by the interruption of an operation.